Bunging up bellows

sirch

sirch

Lu-Tze
Admin
Messages
104,543
Name
The other Chris
Edit My Images
Yes
It seems that my MPP 4x5 view camera has sprung a leak in the bellows and I am wondering what is best to bung up the small hole on the corner folds?
 
Last edited:
I had thought of that and it may be the best option but I wonder how black it really is when applied thinly. Also most silicon is acidic when it sets so could possibly do more harm? That said there are neutral cure silicones
 
Fabric paint!

I’ve had this bottle for years and it’s still good.

Dunno if it’s still available now , but I suspect there are similar products available.

Iirc it was @TheBigYin who recommended it to me.

29C0497D-D7B7-48C2-97CC-441F0383FF75.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Last edited:
I was going to suggest black nail polish for pinhole "filling" but the black liquid latex sounds like a much better cure.
 
I read a suggestion that Liquitex Professional HEAVY BODY ACRYLIC (IVORY BLACK) worked well so I bought some to fix my Wista although when it came down to it the bellows were too far gone and I had to replace them with a new set.

I had tried black liquid insulation in the past but it ended up making the bellows of my Horseman too thick to retract into the Horseman body so the camera could be closed. Once again I replaced the bellows.
 
Last edited:
PeterSpencer said:
it ended up making the bellows of my Horseman too thick
Click to expand...
That is one of my concerns, also it has to survive repeated folding and bending which is why either the latex or fabric paint sound good, and if needed perhaps supported by some thin tissue paper.
 
Asha said:
Fabric paint!

I’ve had this bottle for years and it’s still good.

Dunno if it’s still available now , but I suspect there are similar products available.

Iirc it was @TheBigYin who recommended it to me.

View attachment 353614
Click to expand...
was just going to post the a bottle of the same stuff... Bought it for the Perkeo I bought years and years ago.
 
sirch said:
That is one of my concerns, also it has to survive repeated folding and bending which is why either the latex or fabric paint sound good, and if needed perhaps supported by some thin tissue paper.
Click to expand...
main thing is to use several thin layers and let it try thoroughly (as in a day in an airing cupboard between coats, and a good week after the last coat is applied before you close/refold the bellows.

The stuff asha posted is exactly the same as I've got, and it's pretty tenacious stuff once it's dried - I even fixed the roller blind shutter on my Fed with is when the original latex coat on the canvas came off...

Film Side by The Big Yin, on Flickr

couple of layers and it worked fine - might have slowed the shutter speed marginally, but lets face it, it's a fed 3b, the shutter speeds are more of "guidelines" anyway...


Before the fix
Fed3 - Test reel - frame 30 by The Big Yin, on Flickr

no lightleaks after.
HP5_2010-03-24_020_800px by The Big Yin, on Flickr
 
Last edited:
I've been doing some trials, I dug out my collection of manky old black paints and it turns out I have black non-drip gloss, blackboard paint and Smooth Hammerite. I painted these fairly thickly on a piece of polythene and left them to dry overnight. The gloss still isn't fully dry after about 27 hours, the blackboard paint is dry but flakes off and the hammerite is dry and peels off the polythene nicely to give a fairly strong opaque flexible coating. So ... I might go with the hammerite
 
sirch said:
I've been doing some trials, I dug out my collection of manky old black paints and it turns out I have black non-drip gloss, blackboard paint and Smooth Hammerite. I painted these fairly thickly on a piece of polythene and left them to dry overnight. The gloss still isn't fully dry after about 27 hours, the blackboard paint is dry but flakes off and the hammerite is dry and peels off the polythene nicely to give a fairly strong opaque flexible coating. So ... I might go with the hammerite
Click to expand...
Alternatively just make exposures where there’s no light :exit::LOL::LOL:
 
Not everyone is as lucky as you and has a darkroom :)
 
I was knackered after taking a micro 4/3 and 3 flashes down there, lugging a 4x5 and tripod would need a team of Sherpas.

Which isn't out of the question because I met some Gurkhas training down a cave last year ;)
 
sirch said:
I was knackered after taking a micro 4/3 and 3 flashes down there, lugging a 4x5 and tripod would need a team of Sherpas.

Which isn't out of the question because I met some Gurkhas training down a cave last year ;)
Click to expand...
It has to be done !

I doubt that there are many underground cave shots taken with LF kit.

Of course if you going to have sherpas to help then best to benefit from the fact …… so who has a 20x24 outfit to loan :p
 
Asha said:
It has to be done !

I doubt that there are many underground cave shots taken with LF kit.

Of course if you going to have sherpas to help then best to benefit from the fact …… so who has a 20x24 outfit to loan :p
Click to expand...
A 20x24 wouldn't fit through the passage that leads to the chamber above, we were convinced that the cave had shrunk since we last went there :whistle:
 
I've been exercising my few remaining working brain cells on this problem of using a 20x24 camera in a place that has a very small/narrow entrance, and can see a simple (and to my mind, elegant) solution that I leave to the reader.
 
Just reporting back on this, the Hammerite seems to have done the trick, I gave the worn out corners 3 coats over a couple of days and left to dry well. I dev'd the test shots last night and no light leaks :) Also while I had it apart I replaced the light seal where the bellows connects to the front standard and generally gave it a good clean.

But I did manage to cock up the development in a way that I have never done before. I shot two test frames on different lenses hoping to check that the leaks weren't related to the lens boards. I use a Stearman tank for developing and I managed to put both negs in the same side of the film holder in the tank, never done that before, so one neg didn't get any developer being stuck to the back of the other. Also the neg in front didn't get its anti halation layer washed off but another couple of minutes in the fixer again sorted that out, so at least I got one usable neg. I'm just out of practice I think.
 
:) and :(
 
just for info , if the antihalation layer refuses to clear with fixer, return the negative into an alkaline solution ( ie developer) .
This will clear the anti halation.
Afterwards simply wash like you would normally.
No need to refix as that process has already been performed previously.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top